Brazil 25 years ago…

Competing in Brazil 25 years ago.

25 years ago a was around 17 years old and had been training jiu jitsu for around 4 / 5 years, I'd gone from white belt to blue belt and had built up a pretty good resume of comp results in that time, doing whatever comps i could get too. in those days the Victoria titles were held in Torquay and the Aus cup was held in Melbourne, from memory the Pan Pacs was not yet running. We used to compete on Blue 25mm jigsaw mats out the back of the surf coast surf museum transporting mats from the club to the arena and back over a weekend so we could train Monday night after the comp.

I felt that my Jiu Jitsu was developing in a good direction and i was starting to understand slightly how all this stuff fit together but to be honest my game was always more creative and just do what i felt was right, i had a work out side of the box mentality but always with guidance from my first instructor who at the time by far had the best understanding of the art in Australia, not just technically but culturally.

in those days jiu jitsu Culture was different, it was less gym bro and steroids (although steroids was always in jiu jitsu) and more training, eat healthy, surf and yoga style with a big emphasis on creativity and development. With some People (not now spoken off in Australian jiu jitsu history) being some of the original and most creative people iv ever trained with, developing and evolving amazing games and techniques from basically one man's guidance and a bunch of VHS tapes we would order from the back of a magazine, our what ever Infor we could get pre internet days.
we would mail order the world championships via VHS dub the tape and pass it around to see the new innovations of the art and how we could implement them into our training.

But im getting a bit off topic :)
heading to Brazil was huge for me and i was scared not to train of compete but i was a 17-year-old that had gone as far as NSW by car so the idea of jumping on a huge plane to fly halfway around the world was pretty crazy. I was used to getting up maybe going to school (depending on the surf that day), skating and training jiu jitsu a bike ride up the road from my house.

All i new about Brazil was they had Good Jiu Jitsu, surf and football.

So we arrive in Brazil and it was a bit of an adjustment not the life style but, well its hard to put my finger on it i guess (with out disrespecting Brazil) i had grown up in a country with little real poverty, i mean we had it but when you live in a surf town and rarely go to the city you didn't see it so for me it was an eye opener.
the lifestyle and day to day living for me was not the different people in Rio were surfing, hanging down the beach and training BJJ and cursing around just like we did at home just a bit different.

Training was amazing, I trained at Gracie Barra before it was a huge franchise right in the time they were on the top of the teams podium year after year the room was packed with world champions and the highest level jiu jitsu players in the world. it was like heaven
on any day or night a guy or guys would come in to train that were world champions, MMA (vale tudo) fighters or ADCC champs so i was getting to be exposed to some of the highest level BJJ in the world and it truly was amazing.

The list of names training Could go on for ever but a few people training were Roleta, Marcio fatosa, nino schembri, rolls gracie jr (brown belt at the time), SOCA, Gordo and his Brother Gordinio.
Ryan Gracie, Helio Sonica and Dracalino just to name a few.
the room was stacked !!!!

So, day of the comp rolls around that the famous barra Tijuca tênis clube and like any comp i have some nerves, im warming in and getting ready mentally when my name gets called up, in the chaos i get to the bull pen and quickly get taken to the mat, this is a way different experience to competing in Australia, the crowd is huge, a packed arena, its super noisy and everything is happening fast, go to the mat fight get off, wait go again.

first match i slap hands and everything falls away i feel great,, Pull guard start playing and notice this guy is pretty strong we go back and forth him on top fighting hard me playing guard im able to get the triangle and finish the match, same thing in the second i pull guard and hit a triangle this time the guy dose not want to tap, he puts his thumb into my eye so i shake my head to remove it and he put his thumb into my mouth trying to fish hook be but i squees and tap him.
third match is with a guy from the USA, a wrestler with some jiu jitsu very strong, remember I'm 17 fighting adults' division so everyone is stronger and physically more developed, i dont remember the match that well but i do remember i was down on point had about 10 sec left caught a triangle and tapped the guy to win the match, one of the best matches of my life, look in the crowd and my instructor and Gordinio are yelling for me, i run over and embrace them we are in the semi final.

In the semi finals i come up against another guy my age slightly taller but from the same team, a Young Roger Gracie !
we slap hand, the match starts the match is a classic guard vs passer match, me on bottom him on top, after some time Roger passes to side control and gets the points (3) im able to recover but unable to attack and the match ends with Roger winning 3-0
i place 3rd over all and Roger would go o0n to win the worlds that years.

Me and Roger Gracie after our semifinal match (blue belt world championships) Brazil 2000

The experience of competing and placing 3rd in the world Blue belt is a high light in my jiu jitsu life. something ill be forever grateful for and thankful to all that help me get to on and off the mats.
jiu jitsu is an individual art but its not really as you cant anywhere in jiu jitsu without amazing people around you, to train with and to guide you on the path.

i later went back to Brazil in 2013 and developed a love of the country over the years. Brazil is the birthplace of the art i love and today still the best place in the world if you want to train jiu jitsu.

Myself and Roger Gracie after our match